The Accidental Siren: A Borderlands Tale
by fancycrisis
Summary: Handsome Jack, arguably the most powerful man in the Pandoran system, is dead. As the Hyperion Corporation tries to hold control in the wake of their CEO's untimely end, the notorious world of Pandora slips even further into madness. Once again, a team of four vault hunters brought together by chance and the promise of fortune and glory will decide the fate of an entire world.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"It's an apt name, Pandora." Gaarde said as he stared out the window that made up his office's entire rear wall.

"Waizat?" Lorn asked as he stared at the centerfold of the nudie mag he held.

"You don't actually care, do you?" Gaarde asked.

"No, but I know how much you love the sound of your voice," Lorn replied.

"Touche'." Gaarde admitted. "Pandora was a character from old earth mythology. A young woman gifted with perhaps the most dangerous trait imaginable."

"Sword arms?"

Gaarde sighed. "Curiosity."

"Ohhhh...I see, this is one of them...metathings."

"Metaphors. Yes. Pandora was once given a box, sometimes in the story it's a jar, and she's told never to open it."

"Then why did they give it to her?"

"Because they knew she would."

"Dick move."

"Should I just stop?"

Lorn set the magazine down. "No, I'm actually mildly interested now."

Gaarde turned away from the window and leaned forward on the back of the decadently padded office chair that sat behind his desk. "They knew she would...and they knew it was a lesson that had to be learned. So, of course, unable to control herself, Pandora opened the box and all the terrible things in the world sprang out. Greed, violence, hatred, etc. etc."

"Must have been a big box."

"It's a story. It didn't actually happen. Physics take a back seat."

"Oh. So then what didn't happen?"

"Just when Pandora was ready to despair at what she had unleashed upon the world, one last thing came out. It was called Elpis."

"Like the moon?"

"That's where they got the name, yes, but in the story, Elpis was the spirit of hope. And her first act was to give Pandora hope. Hope that, despite all this evil now out in the world, there was still a chance that people would rise above it."

"Hmmm," Lorn said non-noncommittally.

"I just find it interesting that the history of this world follows its namesake so closely. We settled it out of curiosity, searching for mineral wealth, then vaults, anything that could make us richer, and instead we woke monsters, both alien and human."

"Going by the story, would that mean there's still hope?"

"I hope not," Gaarde said, smiling wickedly at the irony of his choice of words. "People are much easier to control when they have no hope."

As if on cue, a voice rang out of the intercom on his desk. "We have achieved geosynch orbit over the target, sir. Awaiting your order."

Gaarde leaned in and pressed the talk button. "The order is given."

"Acknowledged. Moonshot salvo launching in five."

Gaarde turned back to the window to watch as the large metal bullets rocketed from Helios Station down toward the planet.

"No hope," he said softly. "Only Hyperion."


	2. Chapter 1: Things Goin' On

**Chapter 1**

" **Things Goin' On"**

Savannah shuffled the deck of cards the poker table's previous occupants left behind, looking for anything to kill her impatience. She could dimly hear the opening strains of an old earth song through the paper-thin walls of the cantina.

 _Well have you eeeeeever lived down in the ghetto?_

She clicked open her compact ECHO pad, checking the time.

 _Late.._.she thought, _Never a good sign when they're late._

A loud boom sounded outside, which Savannah recognized as a firework. Triptrap was in full mardi gras mode, a citywide celebration ever since news of Handsome Jack's death had hit the ECHOnet. Triptrap had suffered particularly fierce under Jack's rule, close as it was to a large Eridium deposit. Almost every citizen of the city had lost someone dear to them in a mining accident or an execution.

Someone knocked on the door and opened it. The someone turned out to be her buyer. He was dressed in a tailored suit wildly out of place in Triptrap. Classic Hyperion. Subtlety must be trained out of them during intake. He pushed the door shut and gave the room a quick glance. Seeming to be satisfied with what he saw, he pulled a chair across from her out from under the hexagonal table. He had the frazzled look of someone who was late to an appointment despite leaving early.

"Christ, I'm sorry," he said, flopping down into the chair. "You'd think God himself just came down and announced free pizza for everyone."

"Handsome Jack was not very beloved in these parts," Savannah said. "Killing half of your population and enslaving the rest tends to do that."

Her buyer absently brushed dust off his suit. "You say slavery, we say say direction and subsidized housing."

"Oh yes, you're all heart."

"And yet, here you are taking my money."

Savannah hated small talk. She pulled the small cylinder clipped to her waist off her belt and set it on the table. Twisting the top broke the seal with a soft hiss and she pulled it away, revealing a small chunk of brightly glowing rock held in a clamp. It had the desired effect on her buyer.

"That's it?" the man asked.

"That's it," she replied.

"It's pink," he said.

"It's pink," she parroted.

He pulled out a small scanning device and swept the detachable wand on its head around the rock. Savannah smiled in satisfaction as she watched his eyes grow wide.

"This...this isn't possible," he whispered.

"I told you; four times the energetic qualities of Eridium in the same size."

"And you found this where?"

"Well, that would be telling," Savannah said coyly, sliding the ore back into the container. "First I need to see what you have in that case."

The man smiled wickedly, leaning over to place the suitcase on the table. He popped open the clasps and reached inside. He slammed it shut, revealing a pistol in his hand, aimed squarely at Savannah's face. She blinked in surprise. She knew he was dumb, but she didn't realize he was THIS dumb.

"Are you an idiot?" she asked incredulously.

He frowned, clearly not expecting the woman he totally had the drop on to insult him when he was pointing a gun at her.

"You don't get to talk to me like that," he said in his tough guy voice. He had been practicing. The guys at accounting said he sounded like that Salvador guy.

Savannah did her best not to laugh, she didn't want to push her luck. Instead she nodded at the gun. "You see that checkerboard patter on the barrel? That's a Torgue gun. You shoot that thing off in here and you're going to kill us both."

He paused, glancing at the barrel. He licked his lips.

"This is a trick," He declared shakily. "I've seen this in the vids. Next you're going to tell me I still have the safety on to distract me."

"Well, you do, but no," she said offhandedly. "If I were going to distract you, I'd do this."

She sprayed the deck of cards from her hand into his face, flipping the table with her other hand. She heard a soft click as he tried to pull the trigger and the safety prevented it. As he tumbled backwards the gun flew out of his hand and clattered into a corner of the room.

Before she could draw her own sidearm, the ceiling exploded inward, knocking her flat and showering her and her ex-buyer in debris. She had enough time to register the large chuck of timber that would have crushed her had she still been sitting at the table before the ground shook with another impact. Her brief stint running transport for the Crimson Raiders made her all too acquainted with that sound and feeling.

"Moonshot..." she whispered. She struggled to her feet and clambered over the pile of wreckage that used to be the poker table. She pushed through the door and stumbled into the bar's main room.

It was chaos. People running into the bar seeking shelter, people running out hoping to escape the bombardment. Across the street a barbershop took a direct hit and shattered into a pile of concrete and steel. The bar's front windows exploded from the combined shock of overpressure and shrapnel. Any patrons unlucky enough to be close fell to the floor, pulling at glass and concrete shards embedded in them.

Savannah knew it was only a matter of time before the bar took a hit too. She barreled out a side door and sprinted for a motorcycle parked across the street. She flicked out a hotkey from her wrist brace, jamming it into the keyhole of the bike. There was a brief spark as the key overrode the bike's rudimentary computer and engaged the ignition. She cranked the throttle and gunned the engine.

All around her, others in cars and bikes fled in the same direction, trying to get clear of Triptrap before it was reduced to a crater. She used the bike's small frame to her advantage, weaving between cars and gaining ground. The bike bucked forward as a shell struck terrifyingly close behind, and she tried unsuccessfully to block out the screams of those still alive.

She almost made it. As the last building flashed past her, a shell went wide of its target and slammed down on the road in front of her. The blast wave threw her off the bike and she landed hard on her back, knocking the air out of her. She rolled over. She had to get up. She had to get clear. Staggering to her feet, she spied the cylinder containing the pink Eridium lying in front of her. She snatched it up and was in the process of turning to keep running when the next shell hit.

The first thing she registered was flying through the air again. The second was a sharp pain in her chest and abdomen. Again, she hit the ground. Again, she sucked in air lost. This time, though, her entire torso felt like it was full of glass. She looked down at herself, eyes widening in terror as she registered blood weeping from at least four bullet-sized holes in her.

She tried to move, but found she couldn't. Her vision dimmed. The roar of the shell impacts sounded muffled. The last thing she heard before the darkness took her was a whispering voice that seemed to come from every angle speaking in a language she couldn't understand, except for one word:

 _Devourer..._


	3. Chapter 2: Living Dead Girl

**Chapter 2**

" **Living Dead Girl"**

"Itchy Jagermeister! Back up the truck!" a voice screeched.

Savannah's eyes flashed open to find a Psycho standing over her, leering in her face. At least, she assumed he was leering, since he was wearing that creepy face mask they all seemed to have. A bit further away, the rest of the pack was picking over the wreckage of a caravan that had been caught in the blast of the Moonshot that had almost killed her.

She scooted backward ungracefully on her butt, simultaneously terrified of her predicament and relieved that she somehow wasn't dead. She didn't get far before her arms gave out. Apparently, almost dying took a lot out of her.

"No! Don't run! Then I have to chase you!" the Psycho shouted plaintively. He drew a rusty cleaver from his belt and started toward her.

"Take off your legs! Then no more running!"

She fumbled at her hip holster for her gun only to find it wasn't there.

"Strap your legs to mine! Then I run twice as fast!"

The Psycho was three steps from her when his head exploded. He flopped ungracefully to the dirt. His friends looked up as the report from a sniper rifle echoed in seconds later. From behind her, she heard the growl of an engine.

She turned in time to see a Monster truck painted in bright orange barreling toward them at high speed. As it drew closer, she heard, of all things, music blaring out over an external louspeaker.

 _IIIIIII AM AN ANTICHRIST-AH_

 _AND IIIIIIIII AM AN ANARCHIST-AH_

The Monster drew up just behind her and a girl who couldn't be much older than nineteen jumped out of the driver's side. She waved her left arm and the bright light of something being digistructed appeared in front of her. The light resolved to a hulking robot torso terminating in a roaring turbine engine which kept it aloft. Three long electrified claws emerged from each of its hands.

The girl pointed at the Psychos and the robot jetted forward, claws ready to strike. The girl pulled a submachine gun from her belt and started spraying bright blue bullets at them as well. Savannah noticed the girl was singing along to the music still blaring from the Monster.

"'Cause IIIIII wannnna beeeeeee AAAAAAnnnaaarrchyyyyy!"

Most of the girl's shots missed, but those that did hit exploded in a bright flare of electricity and fire, turning the unlucky victim into a screaming and running mobile bonfire. The combined effort of the robot, the girl and the sniper made quick work of the pack. Savannah barely had time to take in their arrival before things went deathly quiet.

As the last Psycho collapsed and became ashes, the robot hovered back over to the girl, who put her hand up, palm forward. A third arm extended from the robot's back, ending in a comically large white gloved hand and high-fived her. The robot vanished in another bright flash of light. The girl holstered her gun and clicked a button on her ECHOpad, which stopped the blaring music.

The sudden calm gave Savannah more time to take in the appearance of her rescuer. She wore what appeared to be a private school uniform, although the patch that would have denoted the school's name had been removed and replaced with an anarchy 'A' symbol. Unless her school's mascot was a skull, the jacket and shirt had been heavily modified too. She wore a heavy duty mechanic's belt clasped with a large buckle in the shape of the Vault Symbol from which multiple tools and gadgets hung. Most striking though was her left arm, which was entirely cybernetic.

The girl clomped toward her in hightops that had been reinforced with steel toes and soles. Everything about her screamed survivor. Fighter. Wanderer.

Vault Hunter.

The girl cocked her head to the left as she stood over Savannah.

"Interesting pattern," she said. "Never been into tie-dye myself, but I could totes get behind the blood-spatter design."

Savannah looked down at her previously white shirt. It was spattered all over with blood. Her blood. There were holes in it. Ragged holes. Frantically, she stuck a finger through them, feeling the skin beneath. To her surprise, she felt...nothing. No holes, no blood, just skin.

The girl watched this, one eyebrow raising. "Uh...you okay there?"

Savannah looked up at her. "I...yeah." she said uncertainly.

"Ok!" the girl replied, instantly cheerful again, "then mount up, cause we need to pick up her majesty before she gets all pouty."

The girl stopped mid-turn and put a finger to her ear. "Yes, I know you heard that, because I said it over an open mike...well don't pout so much, then." She looked at Savannah with a _sheesh, this guy! e_ xpression.

"Yes, I know you saw that," she continued, shooting the bird in the direction of where the sniper's shots had come from. "You're on overwatch...well, maybe you should have told me how servants are supposed to act before you had me sign that stupid contract."

She motioned to the truck and started toward it. Savannah got shakily to her feet and followed. She clambered into the passenger seat as the girl fired the truck up. Over the rumble of the truck's powerful engine, Savannah shouted.

"Who are you?"

The girl extended a hand. "Name's Gaige,"

Savannah shook it. "I'm Savannah. Thanks for saving me."

"Eh, NBD," Gaige said waving her off. "What's the point in being a wandering road warrior if you don't right a few wrongs now and then?"

A short drive brought them to the foot of a cliff, where a tall, dark-skinned woman waited with clear impatience. She was dressed impeccably in a tan leather hunter's jacket and beige khaki pants that even Savannah could tell had to have cost a small fortune. An expensive Hyperion-made sniper rifle rested over her shoulder, and a large caliber Jakobs revolver sat in a hip holster. The woman's irritation deepened as Gaige pulled the truck to stop just beside her, sending a cloud of dust her way.

"Don't worry," Gaige said, noticing Savannah reaching for her seatbelt clasp, "she prefers the back, says the front is for 'the help.'"

True to Gaige's word, the woman opened the rear door of the cab and climbed in, somehow still still exuding grace and class with her every movement. She brushed a lock of dark brown hair out of her eyes haughtily, and Savannah noticed a streak of white that ran down the middle.

"Relly, baby!" Gaige said jovially over her shoulder, "Fantastic shooting as ever!"

"For the umpteenth time, girl," the woman said harshly in a haughty tone, "it is Baroness Aurelia, Lady Hammerlock, milady, your ladyship, or any of the other acceptable forms of address I have informed you of on MULTIPLE occasions. 'Relly baby' is NOT on that list."

"Cool beans, Aurie," Gaige said, winking at Savannah. "This here's Savannah. She's our new partner in crime!"

"One can only hope she's better behaved than you."

Whatever Gaige's witty retort was, Savannah missed it as a spiking pain erupted in her head, so strong it made her cry out. She was dimly aware of Gaige asking after her, but was too busy dry-heaving. She struggled to lift her head and looked straight into the eyes of a monster.

It looked like a person who had been flayed of their skin. Strips of muscle rippled and pulsed. Veins and arteries throbbed in time with a heart beat. Through the pounding in her skull she heard the thing in front of her speak in Gaige's voice.

"Savannah? What's wrong? Are you hit?"

Savannah wanted to answer but a pink haze overwhelmed her vision and she slipped into unconsciousness again.


	4. Chapter 3: Gimme Shelter

**Chapter 3**

" **Gimme Shelter"**

For the second time, Savannah woke to a masked face hovering over her. Thankfully, this one wasn't a Psycho's but a doctor's. The man straightened up, putting the scalpel he held in his hand back on the tray next to him, sighing unhappily.

"An' I was just about to lay claim to yer parts..." he said.

"Crissakes, Zed, she was dehydrated and faint, not dead," a woman's voice said from behind him.

"You never know," he protested, watching Savannah as if willing her to expire. "You gotta be quick or the organs go bad."

"Where'm-" Savannah started to say, before her dry throat stole her voice and sent her into a coughing fit.

The voice's owner stepped forward, revealing herself to be a woman in her late twenties, dressed in a form-fitting fiber mesh combat suit. The left arm of the suit had been torn off, revealing a complex pale blue tattoo running up her bare arm.

"Zed, get her some water," she said.

Zed turned on his heel and headed over to a sink at the other end of the room, grumbling all the way.

"Dad burn woman all orderin' me around my own clinic jist 'cause she can kill me with her brain..."

The woman smiled kindly. "Take it easy. Zed knows his stuff, but the Emergence is a rough thing to experience, especially if you weren't born into it."

"What are you..." she trailed off as she accepted the cup Zed offered with her left hand and saw the intricate hot pink tattoo, shining all the brighter against her dark skin, snaking up her arm. She dropped the cup in surprise, turning her arm over and staring.

"Yeah, I suppose that would have been better to break to you gently," the woman said. "Sorry. Zed, could you...?"

Zed turned on his heel and headed back to the sink. "Dad burn woman all dumping my water out and makin' me get more jist 'cause she can kill me with her brain too..."

"How...what is this?" Savannah asked.

"It's the mark of a Siren," the woman explained. "We all have them."

Zed returned with a second water cup. Savannah took it and drank.

"How did this happen?" Savannah asked.

"I'm guessing it has to do with these," the woman said, grabbing an ECHOpad with an x-ray image on it. It showed a human torso with bright shards scattered around inside.

"Is that... _me_?" Savannah asked in horror.

"That it is," the woman said, pointing at the shards. "Near as Zed can tell, these bits here are Eridium shards which have fused to your nervous system. The monks had theories about Eridium's organic properties, but this is the first time I've seen it bond to a person like this. How did you even get these in you and not, you know, die?"

"I'm not sure that I didn't..." Savannah said, "I was at Triptrap when Hyperion flattened it. A Moonshell hit close and the Eridium I was carrying must have been broken by shrapnel and hit me. I thought I _was_ dead."

The woman put the pad away. "Well, I don't want to overwhelm you too much, so let's maybe table that for later. For now, you feel like taking a walk? I'm thinking some fresh air might do you good."

"Ok," Savannah agreed. She looked down at her medical gown."Um...clothes?"

The woman pointed at another gurney, where Savannah saw her trousers, jacket and boots folded neatly.

"Your shirt was a total loss, but luckily you're about my size," the woman explained.

Savannah levered herself up, wincing at her sore muscles' sharp protest. She padded over to the gurney. The woman politely turned around, punching Zed on the arm and turning him around when he didn't.

"What?" he protested. "I'm a doctor, it's nothing I haven't seen."

"You're really not," the woman said snidely.

Savannah dressed quickly and followed the woman to the door, nodding her thanks to Zed as she passed by. The woman pulled the door open bringing a blast of hot air inside. The two stepped outside into a hot noontime sun. Savannah could tell they were somewhere in the Dust, the huge equatorial desert that ran the middle of the north continent. Savannah noticed that all the buildings around her were actually mobile trailers, Dahl made and military grade.

"We call it Shelter," the woman said, sweeping her arm out to encompass the collected vehicles. "a mobile rescue unit for refugees and the lost. We offer food, medicine, a place to sleep, all we ask in return you grab a gun when trouble comes knocking and spread the word about us once you leave. Or, better yet, pay it forward; help us out, or start one of your own."

She paused. "You know, it occurs to me that we haven't been fully introduced. Gaige said your name is Savannah, and I'm-"

"Maya," Savannah finished. "I know who you are."

"Really?" Maya asked, obviously impressed.

"You helped kill Handsome Jack," Savannah said. "Most Pandorans know who you are. And _everyone_ from Athenas knows who you are."

Maya gave her a sidelong glance. "So you're from Athenas, then?"

Savannah nodded. "Was. My parents were rather...outspoken about the ills the Priesthood committed there. Eventually Sophis had enough and had them 'disappeared.' Before that could happen, they smuggled me out."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you killed the bastards. I just wish I could have been there."

Maya suddenly got a faraway look in her eyes. "Don't be so sure," she whispered.

Before Savannah could ask what she meant, she caught sight of Gaige headed their way, her robot in tow.

"Heya!" Gaige shouted. She wore a pair of large ear-covering headphones blaring music at an unhealthy volume.

"Scouts just got wind of a bandit horde ranging this way," she added, still shouting even though she was right in front of them. "Boss wants us rollin' pronto."

"Are you kidding me?" Maya asked in annoyance, "We JUST set up!"

"Talk to the boss," Gaige shouted. "I gotta make sure the Meaner Machine is G2G."

Without waiting for a reply Gaige skipped off toward the motor pool.

Maya sighed and pulled out her ECHOpad, pressing a button.

"Boss," she said.

"Heyoooo!" the ECHOpad said back cheerfully.

"What the hell?" Maya asked. "Just how big is this horde?"

"Heyo," the pad replied seriously.

Maya frowned. "Well, you haven't steered us wrong yet, and I know you're not the type to overreact. If you think we're in danger, you have my support."

"Heyo!" the pad said happily.

Maya smiled. "Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head. We'll get started on the teardown."

"Heyoooo!" the pad said, and the light on top winked out, signaling a cut connection.

Maya noticed Savannah staring at her.

"The boss," she said by way of explanation. "Great guy. Lot of people here would be dead if he hadn't put Shelter together."

"All he said was 'heyo.'" Savannah said.

"You learn to pick stuff up. Context, intonation, the like." Maya said. "Now, we got a lotta work to do and not a lotta time, so time to pay off your rescue."

Wondering exactly what it was she'd gotten into, Savannah followed Maya into the camp as it sprang to life in anticipation of its departure.


	5. Chapter 4: Movin' Out

**Chapter 4**

 **"Movin' Out"**

"How did it happen?" Gaarde asked, staring at the body on the autopsy table.

"Massive internal trauma," the coroner replied. "Man was buried under half a building's worth of rubble. If it wasn't for his ECHOpad's homing signal, he'd probably still be there."

Gaarde tapped his finger against his chin, something he unconsciously did whenever deep in thought. "What were you doing down there, Matthew?"

"His pad survived, if you want to have a look," the coroner offered. He pointed at a nearby table. "It's with his other effects."

Gaarde crossed to the table and picked up the pad from its place next to a ruined Torgue pistol and crushed Accuspecs. He flicked on the device, wiping dust from the screen.

"Play last log recording," he ordered.

"Playing most recent log," the pad replied in a soft voice. "Audio only. Recorded 2 days ago, 1432 hours Hyperion time."

The recording began with the distinct rumble of a shuttle's heat shielding as it entered atmosphere. Over it, Matthew began to speak.

"It's done. I'm on a cargo shuttle headed down to Opportunity, and from there I can grab a Light Runner and take it to Triptrap. It's a big risk coming down here, but if it means finally getting my hands on this Super-Eridium, it'll be worth it. All goes as planned, the next log I record will be after I've given a gift to the upper board that makes me a member."

Gaarde turned back to regard Matthew's body. "I guess all didn't go as planned," he said.

"Play preceding log," he ordered.

"Had to throw a lot of my paycheck at certain people down on the loading docks, but I've secured passage down to Oppurtunity and Mr. Gaarde will be none the wiser. Doesn't matter; I'll make it back with interest once I meet this Savannah. I'm no scientist, but an executive assistant needs to be able to count, and I know four times the energetic properties of Eridium is something the board would pay a lot to get their hands on."

"Seems awfully convenient he'd record all of this," the coroner commented. Gaarde had forgotten he was even still there.

"It's a habit we instill in new employees when they go through induction," Gaarde explained offhandedly. "I think I've heard enough."

He set the pad back down on the table and tapped the head of his ECHOwatch, calling up a holodisplay. He connected to Moonshot control.

"Moonshot control," a technician said amicably. "This is Carter, how may I direct your wrath?"

"Carter, this is Gaarde," Gaarde began, "How long did the gun cams stay on Triptrap after we leveled it?"

"Checking now, sir," Carter replied. "It would appear the standard 2 hours for after-action data recording before we broke geosync orbit."

"Excellent," Gaarde said. "Run a spectrographic scan of the data after the bombardment. Look for E-rads. Really strong emissions."

"Working..." there was a pause on the line. "Got something. A small but very potent hotspot."

"Isolate that feed and pipe it to my display. I need to see what it is."

"On it's way."

His holodisplay shifted to show a satellite view of a woman laying spread-eagle on the ground. Gaarde cocked his head in curiosity.

"Savannah, I presume?" He asked no one.

He watched as she was nearly brutalized by a Psycho and subsequently rescued. As the vehicle of her rescuer vanished off the edge of the camera's view. Gaarde paused the feed.

"Carter?" He asked.

"Here, boss."

"Send that E-rad signature to Planetary Surveys and have it uploaded to every surveyor we have out there. I want to be notified the second one of them finds it."

"You got it, boss."

Gaarde cut the connection and closed his watch's display. He keyed in a hailing code, calling up Lorn's personal comms.

"This is Lorn."

"It's Gaarde. I have a job for you."

"Hit me."

"HELLLLLOOOOOOOO SHELTERERS!" the short, boxy robot called out happily to the gathered crews. "My name is Claptrap-"

"WE KNOW," the assembly said in annoyed unison.

"-and my buddy Steve has given me the super-important task of making sure we're all on the same page when it comes to packing up and moving out!"

Claptrap began to pace back and forth before the large white board it had drawn a crude and confusing diagram on.

"Now, this briefing is mostly for all you newbies here, but any of you who want a refresher or just want to hang out with your ol' buddy Claptrap are welcome to stay!"

Everyone except Savannah, Maya, and two other refugees took off.

"Love the work ethic, guys, you're a credit to the team!" Claptrap said, waving goodbye.

"You don't really need to listen," Maya said as Claptrap launched into a long-winded breakdown of Shelter's "super-awesome" departure protocols and how the convoy would be organized. "I've already set it up with the boss. You'll ride with Gaige, Aurelia and me. Although, pay attention to the sequence for starting a trailer's conversion. Never know when you'll be the only one still alive in one and need to get it moving."

Savannah tried to pick up what she could through Claptrap's winding explanation which veered off the subject of breakdown to the finer points of the skills needed to dance with a single wheel and finally devolved into a sampling of a new dubstep song. Maya's ECHOpad suddenly started beeping insistently.

"Thank god," Maya said. She switched it on.

A small holoscreen opened up displaying words PRIORITY ALERT: NEW INTEL INLOADING. A map appeared, showing Shelter's current location and a big, dangerous looking blob of red triangles to the north. A large arrow showed their projected route, headed south east. Maya's eyes widened as the arrow altered course, now aimed straight at the camp.

"Oh shit..." she whispered.

"What?" Savannah asked.

"They must have spotted us somehow," Maya said worriedly. "That Bandit horde is headed straight for us and they're picking up speed. They're going to get here before everyone's ready to move."


End file.
